By Mike Woodring on June 9, 2014

Microsoft offers a set of certifications that validate a software developer's expertise in Microsoft technologies. Certifications such as the Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) are achieved by passing a set of related certification exams, each with a different technology focus.

Course sequence description:

To begin, start with Jesse Liberty's start-to-store course, which provides a well rounded introduction to every facet of Windows Store application development. Follow that by taking a step back from the code while Michael Palermo provides an overview of five design principles you should follow when developing a Windows Store application. Then, watch Gill Cleeren demonstrate how to build testable and maintainable applications that employ the MVVM design pattern.

Once the fundamentals have been explored, Gill Cleeren's course on contracts and extensions provides coverage of exam topics such as the search and sharing contracts, file open and save contracts, settings and play to contracts, and extensions. Follow that with a look at what's new in Windows 8.1 for Windows Store application developers. Yacine Khammal's course on connected apps provides in-depth coverage on exam topics such as accessing HTTP services, tiles, toasts and push notifications.

Finally, Matt Milner's course on Azure Mobile Services will prove useful for learning more about a key platform for providing back-end services to mobile applications, including coverage of exam topics relating to data APIs, identity and push notifications.

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Contributor

Mike Woodring

Mike is the VP of Developer Content at Pluralsight. A former Microsoft C# MVP and multiple U.S. patent holder, Mike has over 20 years of experience developing high performance software systems and training developers around the world.